President Donald Trump said he canceled a planned trip to Pakistan by U.S. negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reportedly left Islamabad without meeting American representatives.
Trump told Fox News’ White House correspondent Aishah Hasnie that the envoys would no longer travel for talks with Iran, saying it was not worth sending them on an 18-hour flight while Washington held leverage.
“I’ve told my people a little while ago they were getting ready to leave, and I said, ‘Nope, you’re not making an 18-hour flight to go there. We have all the cards. They can call us anytime they want, but you’re not going to be making any more 18-hour flights to sit around talking about nothing,’” Trump said.
Araghchi had been in Pakistan on Saturday for talks with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as Islamabad sought to mediate between Washington and Tehran. He later left the country without holding direct talks with U.S. representatives, according to Pakistani officials.
The cancellation followed reports that Vice President JD Vance’s planned trip to Pakistan had also been called off. The Washington Post reported the decision was made in part to avoid embarrassment if the diplomatic effort failed.